Adding contacts to the device without using Outlook, Facebook, etc. (A regular old address book)

[emboliforme]

I'm very sorry if this has been asked and dealt with before, but I've just searched all over and couldn't find a definitive answer. I want to add the phone numbers of several contacts but I have no interest in social media nor do I want the contacts on my phone to have anything to do with my Microsoft/Outlook accounts.

I plan to use my Lumia for strictly personal, non-work related matters and most of the contacts I want to add are brand new, and I want to add them manually, without syncing from any other device. All I want is to have something similar to a regular phone's address book. I refuse to believe that such a simple feature is absent from my phone, and I'm sick of getting condescending replies from other users who insist that I embrace technology and sync all my contacts' info from Microsoft accounts, etc. All I want is and address book strictly for phone numbers, not e-mail addresses or Facebook/Twitter/other social media profiles. Is that even possible on this phone?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jcmg62]

It should be straightforward enough. In the people hub hit the + (add) key and put in the persons name, surname and phone number. Ignore the rest. I appreciate it may then sync this info with your ms account, I'm not sure this is avoidable.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Well to start off with how to add contacts: Creating and editing your contacts | Windows Phone How-to (United Kingdom)

The main reason why it works with your MS account is so you can backup your contacts in case something goes wrong with your phone. This is the way WP works. Using Outlook.com is a lot easier to put contacts in than to do it on the phone.

You can create a new MS Account in Outlook.com and use that as your 'phone' account. That way it has no links to anything else. If you already have a MS account on your phone you'll need to hard reset it to use a new MS account if that's what you plan to do.

You do not need to sync contacts with Facebook or any other social media service unless you want to. You simply don't sign into Facebook or any other social media service on the phone. If you end up doing so you can filter Facebook contacts out.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jcmg62]

I cant recall as its been a while since I last setup my phone from the box but.....at the point when your setting up for the first time, is it mandatory to set up a Microsoft account?

 

[N_LaRUE]

I cant recall as its been a while since I last setup my phone from the box but.....at the point when your setting up for the first time, is it mandatory to set up a Microsoft account?

Yes you need a MS account to use the phone.

 

[Mr Lebowski]

Nope, you can't just add a name you need an account.

 

[Jcmg62]

Well then there you go: dear forum user, if you don't want your address book shared with the cloud, don't give the phone any cloud/network information at the point of setting it up. If you've already given it that info do a hard (factory) reset. But all of this begs one question.......why buy a smartphone if you don't want or need those capabilities. There are still loads of decent 1st generation phones out there that do basic calling, texting and have capacity for a few names in an address book.

 

[N_LaRUE]

According to what I just read, if you want to download apps you need a MS Account. Signing in with a Microsoft account on your Windows Phone | Windows Phone How-to (United Kingdom)

So that person above you is incorrect. If you don't plan to download apps then I am at a loss as to why you have a smartphone.

 

[Jcmg62]

I think your able to use the phone in its very basic form without an account but yes, essentially to do anything "smart" with it, you need to have an account. And yeah, it does make one wonder why you'd want a smart phone if you don't want the features, but hey, each to their own. I'm guessing the guy who started this post isn't going to be a fan of cortana....she's gonna need access to everything including the size of your boxer shorts to work with any degree of accuracy

 

[Mr Lebowski]

It should be straightforward enough. In the people hub hit the + (add) key and put in the persons name, surname and phone number. Ignore the rest. I appreciate it may then sync this info with your ms account, I'm not sure this is avoidable.

When you do that in the people hub it asks you to create contact in one of your accounts (MS, Outlook, Hotmail etc.) first, then you can add a name, phone etc. you can't ignore that, you have to add it to one of your accounts first.

 

[emboliforme]

You can create a new MS Account in Outlook.com and use that as your 'phone' account. That way it has no links to anything else. If you already have a MS account on your phone you'll need to hard reset it to use a new MS account if that's what you plan to do.

This is great advice, thank you very much! I'll probably end up doing this.

It's not that I don't want a smartphone, I actually own a Galaxy Note 3 and the wife uses an iPhone 5s. I realize most devices ask you to sign up for an account (Apple devices certainly do), it's just that it seems a bit more intrusive on Windows Phone, since my only preexisting MS account is an Outlook account. I'd just like to have the option of not having to sign up for an account, that's all. I'm happy enough with my phone anyway.

 

[C LaBelle]

So all contacts are backed up to your MS account even if the contact isn't a social media contact, for example the number for my work?